What a year! Six was so great. And what a trooper this kid is. She survived med school with me, then seamlessly transitioned to residency. I credit all the loving support we have. Plus I think she likes her Dad. They’re playing a lot of games, reading books, watching Adventure Time, practicing softball and soccer, tending to the zoo pets, and getting her homework done, so they stay pretty busy. She has moved up to level 2 girls gymnastics and hopes for roller skates and a magic kit on her birthday. Allowance is typically spent on the toy du jour, but she makes a lot of her own entertainment, whether it’s a paper animal complete with habitat, or a rubber band fishtail bracelet custom made for a loved one. The girl has an eye for colors and patterns. She gets really creative with her outfits.

She’s remarkable. I remember when she was 2 or 3, we couldn’t give her a compliment without several more… she’d say, “…and?” The list keeps growing. She’s still smart, beautiful, sweet, and SO FUNNY. The thing that has struck me the most about this past year is how much more independent she has become. She handles things I wouldn’t expect her to yet, even though I’ve learned to have high expectations. She will do a task or explain something from her school work as if it’s old hat, which is sometimes accompanied by some extra sass. We’re working on the balance between confidence and humility. I see a lot of myself in her when she gets frustrated, usually because the thing she has set out to do will take some practice to master. Hopefully Joel’s tendency to enjoy tinkering and improving something over time will influence her a bit more. She balances it out, though – we do a lot of laughing. And this year there seems to have been more of it, including the kind of silent, nasal-flaring, hard to breathe kind of laughing that I remember from my childhood. I feel like I’m in a dream when I see her laughing.

She’s growing up so fast, but she’ll still let me snuggle her and still holds my hand on a walk. I feel so lucky to be her mom.